“I seen an opportunity with the concept of Tales, taking songs and turning them into mini-movies,” Gotti tells Genius. “I seen an opportunity with doing ‘Fuck Tha Police,’ trying to deliver a message and just putting a mirror up to the world and let them see how it is.”

Gotti’s “Fuck Tha Police” made an impact because of how he executed the idea of race role reversals. It’s centered around the trial of two black police officers who kill an unarmed white teen in his neighborhood. Brody (Matthew Noszka) witnesses the death of Jaden Jenkins (Parker Sack) in plain view. Between an audio recording of the incident on Jenkins’ phone and Brody’s testimony, district attorney Ray Vance (Boris Kodjoe) believes he has enough evidence to take it to trial.

However, things escalate when we find out Brody is having an affair with Jenny (Nafessa Williams), the wife of TV anchor Bob Davis (Clifton Powell) who is also his employer. While Jenny says she wants to support him testifying, she doesn’t want to risk her privilege, and the episode ends with the couple getting caught cheating in Bob’s home. Brody dies in the same fashion as Eric Garner, assaulted and choked out by authorities while saying “I can’t breathe.”

“Fuck Tha Police” ends with some unsettling imagery—a controversial lynching scene amid protests against police. The credits list every person who has died from police brutality, showing Gotti’s fearlessness in tackling the hyperpolitical topic.

“I wanted to deliver a thought-provoking message with ‘Fuck Tha Police,’” he says. “I feel like I accomplished it, and it’s spreading.”

For “Cold Hearted,” Gotti based the episode on real-life experiences he’s encountered over the years. It follows rising rapper Gutta (Keith Powers) who gets fatally shot by an unknown assailant. His musical partner, Lil Tank (Christian Robinson), was by his side and may have been involved in his death.

Detectives Makena Daniels (MC Lyte) and Rooney (Clayton Landey) dig into all the possible scenarios of who might’ve murdered Gutta, narrowing down the suspects to his label boss, his manager and lover, and his best friend. To complicate their quest for finding the killer, a rival rap crew lead by Hazard (Maino) has confronted Gutta on several occasions, leading them to believe that he was responsible.

Tales lowered the intensity with “I Got a Story to Tell.” In this episode, Gotti dramatizes Biggie’s classic by telling it from the perspective of the woman. Isaiah Whitlock (Rico Ball) is the star player on the Atlanta Thunderbirds. He’s engaged to Ashley Santone (Jennifer Freedman), an Instagram model. But Ashley is over her fiancée’s philandering. Though Isaiah claims it’s all tabloid gossip, Ashley isn’t buying it. As the story unfolds, Ashley ends up having an affair with Slim (Woody McClain), a neighborhood hustler, to get back at Isaiah who is allegedly fooling around with a woman in Miami.

Gotti follows Biggie’s story nearly lyric for lyric for the ending. To avoid getting caught by Isaiah, Slim ties up Ashley in her bedroom and executes a fake robbery in order to get out of her home. Isaiah, so shocked by the scene that he drops his glass of water, has no idea that they staged it so they could hide Ashley’s infidelity. Later, Slim is recalling the lucrative heist he pulled off with his boys, making sure to repeat the song’s memorable closing words: “I’m gone!”

Tales is grounded in the essence of hip-hop, telling stories by the creators and influencers who have shaped the genre today. Following the success of Season 1, Gotti will reimagine Slick Rick’s “Children’s Story,” Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen,” The Roots’ “You Got Me,” JAY-Z’s “99 Problems,” and Method Man and Mary J. Blige’s “All I Need.” Expect Gotti to once again push boundaries in the realm of hip-hop culture and entertainment.

“I don’t want to change the world with these episodes. I don’t want to teach. If I have an opportunity to do that—sure,” he says. “But really, this is pure entertainment. What I want [you] to take away from it is an hour of great entertainment where they can’t wait to see next week’s [episode].”